1991 map of Burma / Myanmar
25 January 2023
Is the country called Burma or Myanmar? And what’s the difference between the two names?
The name of the country has always been spelled မြန်မာ (Myanma) in the Burmese alphabet, but until 1989 the official English translation of the name was Burma. Burmese is a diglossic language, and in the low dialect the ethnonym for the Burman people is Bama, while Myanma is used in the high dialect. The Burmese name is also sometimes transliterated as Mranma. The letters < r > in Myanmar and Burma are found only in English transliterations and are not meant to be pronounced but rather are supposed to mark vowel length. (The original transliteration assumed a British, non-rhotic accent.)
In 1989, the military junta that ruled the country changed the official translation/transliteration to Myanmar. The reason for the change that the junta gave was that the name Burma was a legacy of British colonialism. Because it was instituted by an oppressive and illegitimate military government, many democratic governments refused to recognize the name change and officially continued to refer to the country as Burma. Following the democratic reforms in that country in 2011–12, many of those governments recognized Myanmar as the official name, but the United States still uses Burma in its official communications.
The adjective Burma, referring to the Burmese people, and the noun Burma as the name for the country appear in English writing as early as February 1801. The Monthly Epitome of that month has this:
One curious custom relating to the Burma physicians may be mentioned. If a young woman is dangerously ill, the doctor and her parents frequently enter into an agreement, the doctor undertaking to cure her. If she lives, the doctor takes her as his property; but if she dies, he pays her value to the parents: for in the Burma dominions, no parent parts with his daughter, whether to be a wife, or to be a concubine, without a valuable consideration. I do not know whether the doctor is entitled to sell the girl again, or if he must retain her in his family; but the number of fine young women, which I saw in the house of a doctor at Myeda, makes me think the practice to be very common.
And the Hampshire Chronicle has an article with a dateline of 7 February 1801 that reads, in part:
The last advices from India state, that in consequence of some commotions which had taken place in Burmah, the King of Siam had ordered an immense army to assemble throughout his dominions. This force had already given the Burhams [sic] battle, and a most sanguinary conflict of two days duration ensued, in which the Siamese completely defeated their opponents with immense slaughter.
And there is this geographical description from the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal of April 1820 that refers to both Burma and Myanmar:
North from the country of the Talain, on both sides of the Erawadi and Khiænduæn, is the proper country of the Mranmas, who, for two centuries past, have in general been the most powerful nation in the peninsula; but acknowledge a descent from the Mranmas of Rakhain. Their country by Europeans is commonly called the Kingdom of Ava, from a corrupt pronunciation of Ænwa, the vulgar name for the capital; and the names Mranma, Burma, Birma and Brahma, often given to the nation, are all probably corruptions of Marama, used by the people of Rakhain, from whom, I have said, those of Ava derive their origin.
The names Myanma and Bama are often thought to come from the name of the Hindu god Brahma, but this etymology lacks evidence.
Sources:
“XVII. Asiatic Researches.” The Monthly Epitome (London), 5.44, February 1801, 103. Gale News Vault: American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society.
Everett-Heath, John. Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names, sixth ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2020, s.v. Myanmar. Oxfordreference.com.
Hamilton, Francis. “Art. IX.—An Account of a Map of the Countries Subject to the King of Ava.” Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, 2.4, April 1820, 265–66. Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Liberman, Mark. “Myanmar Is Mama.” Language Log. 15 October 2007.
“London” (7 February 1801). Hampshire Chronicle (England), 9 February 1801, 4. Gale News Vault: British Library Newspapers.
Oxford English Dictionary, second edition, 1989, s.v. Burmese, adj. and n.
Wells, John. “Myanmar, Shar Peis and Sarnies.” John Wells’s Phonetic Blog, 11 October 2007.
Image credit: US Central Intelligence Agency, 1991. Library of Congress. Public domain image.